Box Score

INDIANA, PA – Ashton Smith (Scarborough, ON/West Hill Collegiate) scored a game-high 24 points as the IUP men's basketball team kicked off Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West  with a 68-58 win over rival Cal Wednesday night. With the win the Crimson Hawks are now 11-2, 8-1 in the tigthly-contested Western Division.

The Crimson Hawks defense was superb on Wednesday, but it was the Vulcans who would take control early in the game. Quentin Harding poured in a quick six points and Steve Swiech added a pair of layups to help Cal to a 15-9 lead with 12:07 to play in the first half, but IUP would respond.

Smith trimmed the lead to two with a deep three-pointer off of a nice dish from Julian Sanders (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), and moments later Anthony Wells (Cleveland, OH/Shaker Heights) found Kevin Jones (Washington, DC/Bishop O'Connell) for a beautiful alley-oop dunk to knot the game at 15-15 with just over nine minutes to play.

IUP would nudge in front by four late in the first half, but Chad Tipton would slip into the lane for a layup and Keith Lowe would convert a pair of free throws in the final minute of the period to tie the game at 30-30 at the break.

Smith had nine points in the first half, while Sanders added four points and three assists. Lowe had nine points for Cal, while Harding and Swiech each chipped in six points.

With the game tied and the Vulcans gaining momentum at the half, the Crimson hawks leaned on their senior leaders to seize control of the game. Smith and Sanders would both splash in seven points in a 16-2 run for IUP over the first seven minutes of the second half to take a commanding 46-32 lead.

The Vulcans would fight back thanks to some sharp shooting by Lowe and Tynell Fortune, but Smith and Sanders would march to the free throw line to seal the win for the Crimson Hawks.

With his 24 points, Smith moved into ninth place on the IUP all-time scoring list with 1,363 career points, while Sanders is just ahead of him in seventh place on the list with 1,374 points. Sanders finished with 19 points and eight rebounds Wednesday, while Josh Wiegand (Whiteford, MD/John Carroll) added eight points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.

Lowe had a team-high 16 points and four assists for Cal, while Swiech added 11 points and a team-high five rebounds. The IUP defense limited the Vulcans to just 2-of-12 shooting from three-point territory.

The Crimson Hawks hit the road this Saturday when they take on Clarion at 7:30 p.m.